Can it be the reason why Uriah Heep never were taken seriously....

I don't know/care about the rest of the world, but I always took them seriously.

 

their name did them no favors either. I hear their name and think "steaming heep of..."

 

To answer the OPs question David Byron gained a reputation with his operatic vocals and harmonies as one of the best rock vocalists and frontmen in the world.
And Uriah Heep's first seven albums are classics of the early 70s and should be taken very serious.

 

Terrible name. Why not Copperfield instead? Or Artful Dodgers?

 

Fyi, Victor Periano's Kingdom Come is much better than the other guy's Kingdom Come. See you at the Token Lounge!

 

I never realised they weren't taken seriously. That's news to me but I will say they were a fantastic band and anybody dismissing their early work is doing so on personal taste alone, as they were certainly talented. I love their first record and Demons And Wizards, The Magician's Birthday and Sweet Freedom still get played and taken seriously on my stereo. Hard to go wrong with anything they recorded between '70 and '75.

 

They were signed to a record label so someone took them seriously. Anyway I like them a fair bit, they could be very melodic - far better songwriting for me than the likes of DP - so, better songwriting.

 

I remember it more like, "Cool album cover. It's like a mirror! Too bad these guys suck."

 

Bullshirt. They were taken seriously.

 

What do you know about the popularity of Uriah Heep in the US/UK in the 70s? You don't have personal knowledge of this unless you traveled throughout the US and the UK asking a representative sampling of music listeners if they liked Uriah Heep during this time frame. Or you could look at the charts and other published statistics just like anyone else can regardless of age or country of residence.

 

Yea that is something you would say! Do you know how to say anything without the word suck?

 

Uriah Heep Live January 1973 is better than many live albums from that era. July Morning just smokes!

 

I disagree with the premise of this thread. Uriah Heep were a very big deal in the US in 1972 and '73. They moved a lot of product and toured the arena circuit repeatedly. It was short-lived due to lineup changes and mediocre output after '74 or so, but still...

 

Yes I do - you can search my posts to confirm.

 

All you naysayers are sitting in front of your FM tuners talking sh#t. If you ever saw Uriah Heep live you would most certainly change your tune. 1974, Barton Coliseum, Little Rock, Ar. First date with my now wife (thirty ninth anniversary was Friday). Hell of a good show. Manfred Mann was the opening act.

 

They did have a brief period of popularity off a couple singles that got big radio play, but the title is about whether or not they were taken seriously. I don't recall Uriah Heep ever being taken seriously. Comparing them to Zeppelin, Sabbath and Purple is silly, they were more like C level Deep Purple for a little while.

I'm embarrassed to admit I saw them live, probably more like 77-78. I have no recollection of the show. I was only 12-13, but I remember a lot of the classic shows I saw like Queen, Van Halen, Rush, Yes, Thin Lizzy and so on.

 

I played this one for my little nephew's birthday once. My sister was like, "seriously"? You know, like in that voice. I responded, "like a heart attack"!

 

"He was the wizard of a thousand kings
And I chanced to meet him one night wandering
He told me tales and he drank my wine
Me and my magic man kind of feeling fine"

It's stuff like this, isn't it? I love Demon's & Wizards, but some people can't past lyrics like this. But, they are what they are. Don't worry that there's songs with titles like Rainbow Demon - ask yourself, is it a good song about a Rainbow Demon (jesus, am I really typing this? ) But yeah, it's a bit like criticizing The Lord Of The Rings for being a fantasy about Hobbits.

 

1st time I heard Stealing I thought it was three dog night.

 

That's a compliment.

 

Byron was a showman/carnival style performer. He was always a lot over the top but I think it was just him having fun to start, Later on he was reportedly a major alcoholic and I think that's what you see in the "Return To Fantasy" clip. Nevertheless, great singer with an incredible voice. Hey, Liberace was a world-class pianist and Charo is an outstanding classical guitar player who took lessons from Segovia. Sometimes really talented people are egregious showoffs.

I can think of a lot of reasons why Heep are not as esteemed as their peers but I generally feel very fond of them, especially their early albums, and that makes me not want to pick nits.

 

Clearly you don't read Dickens.

 

I saw them in '74, and it was pretty lame. I've seen much worse, but certainly nothing inspiring from these guys.

 

This. I for one, took that first live album quite seriously. All of it smokes.